So Legacy uthern 190 Tradd Charleston, South Carolina


THE HOME AT 190 TRADD ST. and the surrounding properties are entwined with the social, cultural, economic and geographical history of the Holy City.


BY CAREY NIKONCHUK


According to Charleston historian Dr. Nic Butler, the land on the western end of the Charleston peninsula, once a tidal marshland that was later filled in, originally was set aside for the use of the “public common” by Gov. Charles Greville Montagu and the South Carolina Legislature. Te city did not honor its commitment and eventually sold the property to a man named Joshua Brown. Later, a portion of the land was owned by George Chisolm, who


developed it into a rice mill that included several buildings, one of which is the lovely home that now sits at 190 Tradd St.


Rice was a huge part of plantation society during South Carolina’s early history. However, prior to the 1780s, milling rice was a tedious process. Until Jonathan Lucas arrived in the Carolinas, the husks were removed using a mortar and pestle. Lucas, a mechanic who emigrated from England, built the first rice mill in South Carolina in 1787 on the Santee River, while he and his son, Jonathan Lucas Jr., built the first toll mill on the Cooper River. Both water-powered mills depended on the tides of the Lowcountry’s rivers. By 1804, there


Street


were four rice mills on the Charleston peninsula alone, and, by 1848, there were six. By this time, the mills were powered by steam. Chisolm’s rice mill, built around 1830, was located at what is now 200 Tradd St. Te property was set apart from the peninsula, and access to the mill and its surrounding buildings was gained by way of a small strip of land known as Chisolm’s Causeway. Te mill pond on this property today is a park commonly known as the “Horse Lot.” Te main plant, along with most of its buildings, was destroyed in a fire in 1859. Te mill was quickly rebuilt, and more than 150 people worked in the four-story brick building, a large contributor to Charleston’s antebellum


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